£4.2m: The Irony of Returning a Loot

 Ibori's £4.2million Loot

The federal government of Nigeria had successfully negotiated the release of looted funds belonging to Delta state by its jailed former governor, James Ibori from the UK government. The next action is to return this loot amounting to over £4.2m to the government and people of Delta state as part of the repatriation deal.

But I hope that when, eventually, the whooping £4.2m is returned to Delta State -where it rightly belongs, same will be judiciously utilized to serve the benefits of the majority of the people of the state.

It will be disheartening to see my utmost concern and the huge source of my fear comes to pass, to wit, that Mr James Ibori, the chief looter in question, having been released from his UK incarceration and having returned to the state and having yet that influence as a political godfather even to the current Chief Executive of the state, it smells rat that the loot could be more probably relooted and yet by the chief looter!

That's my fear, for that's my concern over the morality and legality of returning the loot to the state, especially now that Okowa- a very known appendage of Ibori is the one to control same.

In the alternative, I recommend that  high-powered scrutinizing organs involving state actors and civil society organizations be set up to track and monitor, from the use of the first shilling to the last of this money to ensure that the fund is channelled to no other than for the good of the entire people of Delta State, to whom the money rightly belongs.

Very carefully, I reiterate, everyone involved must ensure that the looted funds of Deltans are not relooted, especially by the influential looter(s), for that would have been defeatist of the entire effort of the recovery!

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